Alonso warns Silverstone's iconic Maggotts-Becketts complex will be "sad" under 2026 F1 rules

Fernando Alonso has delivered a bleak verdict on what Formula 1’s 2026 regulations will do to Silverstone, warning that the British Grand Prix venue will be “very different and not fun to drive” and that the experience will be “quite sad” for drivers and spectators alike.

Speaking to media ahead of the British Grand Prix, the two-time world champion singled out Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps as circuits that will suffer most under the new rules. “I think the next two races are going to be a different experience than what we’ve been used to driving in Silverstone and Spa,” Alonso said. “Beautiful circuits in the past, especially with the ground-effect cars. I think Silverstone was probably the best of the circuits, suiting that car perfectly.”

Alonso’s comments echo those of Max Verstappen, who said last weekend in Austria that he had been moved to laughter after running Silverstone in the simulator — a reaction that has since become a recurring theme as other drivers are asked for their views.

The root of the problem is the unequal distribution of recharging opportunities around Silverstone’s layout. After a rapid sequence of corners early in the lap, the circuit transitions into longer straights followed by relatively fast corners, leaving the cars’ batteries heavily depleted before they reach the celebrated Maggotts-Becketts-Chapel complex. That sequence of high-speed sweepers — long considered one of the most demanding and spectacular on the calendar — may now have to be navigated with drivers lifting and coasting, or super clipping, rather than attacking flat out.

Similar scenes played out at the Australian and Japanese Grands Prix earlier this season, where energy harvesting forced drivers to super clip into corners that previous-generation cars would have taken at full throttle. The FIA introduced new limits on the amount of energy that can be harvested per lap ahead of the Miami Grand Prix in an attempt to reduce that behaviour, but cutting electrical capacity has its own consequences for lap times and top speeds.

Copse, the corner that precedes Maggotts-Becketts-Chapel, does not provide enough deceleration to meaningfully replenish the battery after the long run from Luffield. That means the cars will arrive at what was once a stern test of driver and machine carrying significantly less power than in previous years.

“This year is going to be very different and not fun to drive the cars,” Alonso said. “Looking at the simulator laps and things like that it’s going to be quite sad, I think, for the drivers, but also for the spectators.”